Hope ebbed when the scanner still showed nothing, but the neutrino source his instruments had detected was strong. What could it be? The mass detector... registered nothing of consequence except the planet below. Another ship? He stilled the hope unborn. No, a sublight drive would emit a whole slew of subatomic particles, and register as an almost infinite mass on his instruments, if the drive were anywhere near.Hyperdrive, on the other hand, was undetectable with anything he had on board. He. The captain had come to the conclusion that he would be executed by the general for failure to carry out his orders. It might not be done by a military tribunal, but by the general's own hand in some dark alley. There was the remote possibility though that the boy might be killed or be convinced to come. This had to be tried. The Captain ordered his men in now in a rough voice and they headed out of the base with him leading in a car.Just out of the base and perhaps a half mile away he had to. But, I did tell Rina, but not Sam, that if they did make it together, and if they did become a couple, you know get married...” he said.“Owen, did you bribe the woman?” she said.“No, no, not exactly,” he said.“Which means you did!” she said.“No, no, I just told her that if they did start a family that I’d make sure that they were financially secure,” he said.“Owen!” she said.“I offered to offer them ten million to start their life together,” he said.“What the fuck! Owen are you nuts! She might. The occasions when it did happen were always highlights in the manor’s routine and the sight of Her Ladyship squirming uncomfortably at the dining table at dinner following an encounter with the cane were widely reported and smirked at.It was a matter of regret that such occasions were not more frequent or that His Lordship seemed blissfully oblivious of the way his wife abused her position whenever he was absent from the manor. Frequently the girls discussed ways in which they could make his.